Driving Jacks 10th Anniversary

10 years ago, at 10 PM on January 25th, a group of SFASU students were anxiously awaiting a phone call.  Everything was set up and ready to go, a phone number, member shirts, a Dodge Magnum, fliers, a birthday cake, balloons and even a few people who had been waiting on this day for years.

Driving Jacks first night of operations were a go and all we  needed was a phone call.  We knew there was a need for Driving Jacks at SFASU (any college campus really) but we were still nervous that no one would call.  We set up a "just in case" person to call in but we never had to utilize that person because we got our first call not long after we "opened".  Apparently someone had been itching to be the first rider of Driving Jacks and went down in history.

I still can't believe it had been 10 YEARS!  That is so crazy to me.  I think it's more crazy that I have been out of school for 10 years more than DJ has been operating that long-I always knew it would be great once it started.

The Road Trip with Kali Claire

My parents needed someone to watch Kali while they were going out of town but I had plans all day.  In the AM I had to volunteer for my Rodeo committee, Special Children's and in the evening I was planning on driving to Nacogdoches for the 10th anniversary party.  I said, "I can watch her if she can go to Nacogdoches with me" thinking they would say no, but nope, they said yes!  

Every time I have gone on a 'trip' Kali asks me if she can come too.  I always feel so bad saying no to that little face!  She was so excited to go on a trip and stay in a hotel. My mom even bought her a new little suitcase to bring with her.

We left the house about 2 pm and only made a few stops (chicken nuggets-Kali, Starbucks-me, restroom-both of us) and made it to Nac around 5 pm.  We checked into our hotel room that I had reserved by the phone.  Let me tell you, I will  NEVER stay at Days Inn in Nacogdoches again (see below for story).

Hector got to Nac shortly after we did and we headed to the park with Kali while waiting for Clarissa and Josh to get there.  We also had to pick up the cake at Brookshire Brothers before dinner.

This child loves balance beams.  Remember the railroad tracks from the Polar Express, same thing-she loved this!

Speaking of the cake.  Do you notice anything different here?  The bakery did a great job but ummm...it's supposed to be 10 years, not 90.  Same difference, right?  Haha.  They did do an amazing job on the logo though!!

We made it to the party and it was super fun.  The news was there to do a story on the 10th anniversary and interviewed me.  I will not be posting it on my blog, but you can google it if you want on the Lufkin/Nac news channel.  I look awful and said "amazing" too many times.  Ugh, I always say stupid things in interviews!  I told my sister that if someone makes me into a meme for saying 'amazing' a million times, I will cry!  I tried to get Hector or someone else to take my place, but no one else did and they wanted to interview me since I was the President on the first night.

Kali Claire and Connor helping blow out the candles.

After the event we all went walking around the campus.  Kali decided that she wants to be Lumberjack and posed with Surfin' Steve. #axeemJacks

So, one quick story about Days Inn in Nacogdoches.  DO NOT book a room there.  There were bugs and the place was was not kept up.  That's not my biggest issue (though that is a huge issue).

At 2:30 am we were woken up by people shouting outside our window.  They were in a fight about something and I heard them say something about a gun.  I called 9-1-1 because I wasn't sure if it was a robbery or what was happening.  Someone kept saying "let me in" and "give me the money".  I wanted to leave right then but if it was a robbery and I opened the door to leave, he could have gotten me and Kali too.  I can't just drive away quickly without putting her in her car seat, plus she was sleeping and wouldn't be too much help getting away.  So we just stayed put and I was praying that we wouldn't get shot.

The Nacogdoches Police Department responded very quickly and diffused the situation.  I didn't hear what happened but in my brief glimpses outside I believe I saw someone being taken to jail.  There was a taxi cab outside and my best guess as to what happened was someone didn't pay their taxi bill and the driver was upset and trying to collect his money.  I don't know (I didn't want to go outside and ask just in case the friend of the guy that went to jail wanted to get revenge).

Anyway, the next morning we met back up with my friends at a local restaurant for breakfast/lunch before heading out.

Visiting Waco, TX

My final destination for the weekend, Dinosaur Valley State Park, is 3.5 hours from Houston and you need to travel through Waco to get there.  I was reviewing the map and my bucket list when I realized that Jacob's Ladder was in Waco, too.  Perfect!  I can do that while passing through.

My GPS took me to the park easily and the signs inside the park led me directly to Jacob's Ladder.  Jacob's Ladder was originally an actual ladder but was replaced with  88 zig-zaging steps to the top of a steep hill.  It was just as hard going down as it was going up.  My thighs got a workout that day!

After Jacob's Ladder I had lunch at the Mad Hasher, which is a "hash" inspired food truck.  Mine was a potato hash with eggs (not plant based!), pico, assorted veggies, feta (??), and a creamy sauce.  It was so good and I highly recommend stopping by if they are open when you visit.  They were parked at a food truck area with several other trucks near the college, I believe.

After filling my belly it was off to the Waco Mammoth National Monument to see some still in the ground mammoth bones!  At first I was not really feeling this place but I figured that I  had some time to kill before I needed to leave and it might be cool. Let me tell you, it was one of the coolest things I have seen.

You have always seen pictures of fossils on TV or maybe fossilized rocks but these were actual bones that are still partially in the ground on a real live excavation site.  I LOVED it.  The tickets are only $5 and it is well worth the $$.

They take you to the actual dig site where some college kids back in the 70's thought they found a cow leg bone but it turned out to be a mammoth femur bone I think.  They turned it over to Baylor where they knew a paleontologist and they started excavating the site not too long after.

The area was a narrow strip of land between two rivers at one time and a flash flood came and wiped out about 20+ mammoths that were part of a nursery herd.  They figured out what had happened because the bones were sticking straight up as if they were caught in the mud when a flash flood came along.  They said that some of the mothers were even holding the babies in their tusks out of the water to try and save them when they died. ;(

These two were interesting!  They think they might had been in the mating process (not at that exact moment).  They also know that this male had been in a fight a few years earlier because of some extra calcium building up on one of his ribs.  

They have found a ton of bone sites, even on layered on top of each other spanning years.  So the area must have been known for flash flooding because they would dig a little further down and find more, like the mud created layer upon layer of accidental cemeteries.

This is a real life example of the size of the mammoth from back then!!

There are  more animals that they found in there including a camel and a sabor tooth tiger.  They believe there was a tiger cub den that collapsed at one time in the area.  So interesting!

The building itself is on the actual dig site and can move to protect more fossils as they unearth them and can be expanded as the dig site uncovers more.

So, Central Texas is full of pre-historic animals between this site and Dinosaur Valley State Park. I can only imagine what they will uncover in the area next!  For $5, it is well worth the hour you will spend there.  Go visit it!!

My Spectacularly Cold Polar Plunge

Part Two of my weekend in Glen Rose, TX.

After my first day hike, I did my dino dive!!  I chose this park because I could do two bucket list items at once.  I can go to Gorman Falls any time, but you can only do a polar plunge when it's cold and New Year's Day is a perfect time to do it.  In Canada, it is a tradition to do a polar plunge on New Year's Day.  Plus, this Dino Dive was a fundraiser for the park to purchase new bike racks (or something like that).

Since I was only about an hour from my Dallas, I convinced my friend Clarissa to meet me for the day to hang out and watch me dino dive.  I didn't want her to stand around waiting for me to finish my first day hike, so I chose the shorter hike.  After we got done on the hike I met up with Clarissa at the gift shop to look around and take pictures by the big statues.

OMG!!  RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!  T-Rex is chasing us.

OOOPS!  I fell!!!  Save me, Clarissa!!!!!!  Save yourself!!!

After running for our lives from metal dinosaur statues, we headed to the Blue Hole to dino dive!  I got my goodie bag that had a free beanie hat and a certificate that says I did the Dino Dive.  I felt official. I love how they drew dinosaur pictures on the bags.

I loved how well they thought out the dino dive.  They had different stations that you could do while waiting for the event to start.  A write your bucket list (!!!) station, a "dig" a fossil station (a plastic swimming pool where you "dig" a fossil out of the sand), a ring toss station, face painting station, a costume contest, and  a few others that I can't remember.  Plus they fed us with hot dogs and hot chocolate and let us warm up with the firepit.

After a crowd gathered, we were able to start the dive.  They had a walk a short distance down the path and then wade into the water.  It was so neat because they showed us actual dinosaur footprints and we were able to walk on top of them while walking towards the area where we 'dove' into the water.  How cool is it that I got to walk on the same area where dinosaurs walked 113 million years ago?!?!?!?  (no pictures because I didn't want my camera to get wet)

We each got to take a turn diving into the river.  They said the temperature was 53 degrees at the surface but probably a lot colder down underneath.  Let me tell you,  it was cold!!  I came out of the water and almost said a curse word, but then I remembered there were kids around.  I got out quickly.

Clarissa was able to take a video that she needs to email me.  I will try and update this post when I get it. This is the only shot of me in the water I have right now.  I am Instagram famous on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Instagram.  Look at that, 1,800 likes. :)  I'm in maroon towards the right.

We all did a group dive (if you wanted to) at the end after everyone had gone.  I swallowed water that time and was gagging when I came up.  The water didn't taste bad but it was cold and not drinking water!  It was unexpected.


I would absolutely love to do it again next year!!  Depending on if I can do it again (you never know where God will take you in a year) and if the park holds it again, yes I will!  If you are wondering if kids can do it, yes!  There were several kids who did it and there was even a canoe life guard within 15 feet of where we jumped off to help anyone who needed help.  I would recommend a life jacket if kids aren't too strong of swimmers.  The cold water shocks you so even the best of swimmers can need help.  The park was prepared with a canoe (like I said) and a life preserver. You can kind of see the canoe in the picture below.

After the dinosaur dive we packed it up and went to lunch.  It was New Year's Day and not many places were open in the tiny town we were in and then I promptly went back to my campsite to take a nap!

Thank you Dinosaur Valley State Park crew and also to the gift shop crew!  I think the gift shop was in charge of the fundraiser.  By the way, the gift shop has amazing prices!  My souvenir ornament (well, it's a magnet I will turn into an ornament) was only $3.  They definitely do not try to gouge you on the prices, which I find refreshing.  Hopefully they get a lot of business.